That they may have life in fullness

This text from John 10.10 formed the theme for the ninth assembly of the Alliance of Presbyterian and Reformed Churches in Latin America (AIPRAL), which met in São Paulo, Brazil, at the end of June.

It was chosen by the Latin American member churches because it is also the theme for the World Alliance's forthcoming general council (Accra, 2004) and because for many Latin Americans today life is very far from life in fullness. It was, they affirmed, a challenge "to renew our missionary commitment".

The assembly was preceded by a regional consultation on mission, the first within the framework of the WARC study on mission, which focuses less on academic discussion of mission than on the "lived missiology" of the churches.

"Our mission can only be effective when we know the context in which we are called to serve," Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the World Alliance, told the assembly. He recalled the testimonies from Argentina, Columbia and Venezuela in the opening plenary, echoed by others in the meeting, which showed how compromised life was for so many in Latin America; and he reminded the assembly how David Rodríguez had referred to Latin America as a sick patient.

"I know how important evangelism is to churches in Latin America, just as it is important in my part of the world, Africa," Nyomi said. "All of us are here because we have heard the good news of the kingdom of God proclaimed...I am grateful for the faithfulness of the churches in this area of evangelism."

But mission in the gospel understanding of the term, he noted, couldn't be reduced to evangelism, but included healing the illnesses of society. It couldn't be narrowly confined to the "spiritual", but extended to the whole of life.

Also present in the assembly was the Alliance's theology secretary, Odair Pedroso Mateus of the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil.

In its final declaration, the assembly said that "life in fullness" describes in a concise way the mission of Jesus. "In him, God himself draws near to human beings, without distinction of gender, race, age or social class - proclaiming and teaching, healing us and breaking the chains that dehumanize, forgiving sins and offering new life."

Delegates denounced as sin everything that threatens life: on the one hand, hunger, exclusion, violence, misery, injustice and unemployment, and, on the other, the ostentation, corruption, abuse of power, accumulation of wealth, and destruction of the environment that so distress their peoples. They voiced their pain in the face of the systematic violation of human rights throughout the continent, and described the model dominating the global economy as "an instrument of exclusion and human marginalization". The sufferings and trials of Latin America were a "continental tragedy".

Setri Nyomi paid tribute to the Presbyterian Church of Venezuela as the first church anywhere in the Alliance family to draw up a confession of faith in relation to economic injustice and environmental destruction. "We affirm, in keeping with the biblical witness, that God creates the earth and makes it fruitful to sustain life in all its forms," the national synod of the church declared in February last year. It deplored the dominant global economic model, which privileges the return on capital at the expense of human dignity and exploits the earth. In God's creation, "our great home", the best things are monopolized by a few, while grievous discrimination is suffered by the many.

Similar concerns were expressed in a statement from the recent AIPRAL consultation on faith and economics held in Buenos Aires, which reflected on the tension between faith and economics and agreed a series of work projects in the search for solutions to the crisis through which Latin Americans are living.

Founded in the 1950s, AIPRAL today brings together 30 Presbyterian, Reformed, Congregational and Waldensian churches from 18 Latin American countries, with about 2.5 million members, and aims to strengthen their cooperation. Originally independent of the World Alliance, it was recognized as the Latin America area of the Alliance at the 23rd general council (Debrecen 1997).

"Our great Reformed family seeks to understand and respond to the will of God in the midst of a complex and changing reality," the assembly said. "We feel challenged to share our raison d'être as confessional churches, in the midst of a deep crisis of values, in a world where a superficial individualism prefers instant gratification and emotional immediacy."

It exhorted congregations in the Latin American churches "to persevere in the knowledge of the word of God" - "the unique and perfect source of faith", which presents Jesus Christ to us as the incarnate God "who stands in solidarity with us to the last". Head of the church and its only Lord, he is also the Lord of history. Only in this perspective can Reformed Christians in Latin America offer an integral testimony, embracing both word and deed. The church, said the assembly, quoting the German martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "is only church when it exists for others".

The assembly elected a new leadership. Carmen Rodríguez Rubert (Puerto Rico) is the new AIPRAL president; Clayton Leal da Silva (Brazil), vice-president; Luis Pérez Alanoca (Bolivia), secretary; and Germán Vidaurre Álvarez (Costa Rica), treasurer. The departments will be headed by: Sergio Alberto Bertinat Fornerón (Argentina), bible and theology; Helis Hernán Barraza Díaz (Colombia), cooperation and witness; Zulema García de Rojas (Venezuela), mission and evangelism; Esther Susana Menke Renner (Brazil), women; Juan de Dios Caraballo (Dominican Republic), youth; and Cleofe Hernán Romero Maureria (Chile), finance. The new executive secretary is Germán Zijlstra (Argentina).

One of the principal tasks of AIPRAL in the years ahead will be to continue study and action on the mission of the church, the assembly said.